Thomas Ford American fashion designer Date of Birth: 27.08.1961 Country: USA

Biography of Tom Ford

Tom Ford is an American fashion designer who gained wide recognition while working at the fashion house "Gucci" and as the creator of the label "Tom Ford." He was born in Austin, Texas, into a family of real estate agents, Tom Ford and Shirley Benton. Ford grew up in the suburbs of Houston and Austin, and at the age of eleven, he moved with his parents to Santa Fe, New Mexico. He attended a local high school, which he graduated from in 1979.

At the age of 17, Tom moved to New York, where he enrolled at New York University to study art history. After just one year, he dropped out and pursued a career in advertising, working in commercials. He soon entered the Parsons School of Design, where he studied interior architecture. While living in New York, Tom became a frequent visitor of the legendary nightclub "Studio 54" and realized that he was gay. In his last year of school, Ford traveled to Paris and interned at the press office of the fashion house "Chloe." Although he developed an interest in fashion, he graduated with a degree in architecture.

After completing his studies, Tom struggled to find work in his desired field of fashion design rather than architecture. He spent a month relentlessly calling Katie Hardwick, a well-known American sportswear designer, in the hopes of securing a job in her company. Eventually, he managed to obtain a position as an assistant designer and worked there for two years. In 1988, Ford moved to "Perry Ellis," where he stayed for only two years.

In 1990, Don Mello, the creative director of the financially struggling brand "Gucci," was searching for a suitable candidate for the position of head designer for their mass-produced women's clothing line. He chose the relatively unknown Tom Ford. In September, Tom moved to Milan with his long-time friend Richard Buckley, a fashion journalist. Ford quickly rose in the company, becoming the designer for men's clothing within six months and later taking charge of footwear. In 1992, Richard Lambertson left his position as design director, and Ford took over. In 1994, he became the creative director. In an effort to improve the company's business, Ford enlisted the stylist Carine Roitfeld and photographer Mario Testino from France to create a series of modern advertising campaigns for Gucci. During the years 1995-1996, the company's sales increased by 90%. Soon after, Gucci acquired the fashion house "Yves Saint Laurent," and Ford was appointed as the creative director for that brand as well. In April 2004, due to a conflict with Domenico de Sole, the CEO of the company, Tom resigned.

He then established his own fashion house, "Tom Ford," and in 2006, he launched his perfume line, "Tom Ford Beauty." On April 12, 2007, the first Tom Ford store opened on Madison Avenue in New York City. In 2008, Tom opened his boutiques in Zurich and Toronto. In December 2008, he made his directorial debut by directing the film "A Single Man," starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, and Lee Pace. The film was based on a novel by Anglo-American novelist Christopher Isherwood and tells the story of a British professor coping with the death of his lover.

For more than 20 years, Tom has been in a close relationship with former editor-in-chief of "Vogue Hommes International," Richard Buckley. In this union, Tom desires to have children, but Richard opposes the idea.